Rehabilitating the brain through meditation and electrical stimulation.
Cortex; a journal devoted to the study of the nervous system and behavior 2020 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2018.07.022 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Review Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key findings | Reports that fractional anisotropy (FA) is improved in pathways surrounding the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) following two to four weeks of meditation training. Proposes that increased frontal theta from meditation may cause this improvement, supported by a mouse optogenetics study imposing theta rhythms in the ACC. |
Abstract
This paper is a review of our recent studies and ideas related to the neuropsychological issues that Robert Rafal and I worked together to understand attention and hopefully improve it in a variety of patients. Rehabilitation is also a goal of my current research to determine if non invasive stimuli can improve white matter in humans. We have found that fractional anisotropy (FA) is improved in pathways surrounding the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) following two week to four weeks of meditation training. We hypothesized that the frontal theta increased following meditation training might be a cause of the improved connectivity. This was confirmed by a mouse study using optogenetics to impose theta rhythms in the ACC. We have evidence that electrical stimulation while performing a task that activates the ACC can also increase theta. We plan studies to determine whether two to four weeks of stimulation can improve FA in pathways surrounding the anterior cingulate.